R. Thirunavukkarasu - Social Hegemony in Contemporary India

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1. R. Thirunavukkarasu
2. T. K. Oommen
3. 1. Amiya Kumar Das
   2. Tanweer Fazal
4. 1. R. Thirunavukkarasu
   2. Shaileshkumar Darokar
5. 1. Karthick Ram Manoharan
   2. Archana Singh
   3. C. Jerome Samraj
   4. P. Ramajayam
   5. Manoj Kumar Jena

The idea of this volume emerged little before I joined the University of Hyderabad during the summer of 2014. I was associated with the Institute of Human Rights Education for a period of three years. Extensive travel in Tamil Nadu and later across the country and discussions with government school teachers and children from many states gave me an opportunity to assess the changing social, economic and political conditions of people who are not at all visible in our everyday glittering world of liberalization. I thank Henri Tiphagne, Executive Director of the Institute, for his encouragement. After joining the University of Hyderabad, this idea was further consolidated during my discussions with colleagues and students. When I was warmly asked by my colleague and UGC-SAP coordinator Professor Purendra Prasad to organize a seminar, I thought of expanding this idea further. Therefore, the first credit goes to him for facilitating the seminar by providing not only the required financial assistance but also enormous moral support. Discussions with my teachers Professor T. K. Oommen and Professor Avijit Pathak sharpened some of the ideas before I could finalize the larger theme of the seminar. I thank them for their profound insights and constant encouragement.

Sixteen scholars were invited to make their presentation during the two-day event. However, some could not send their papers. Compiling all these papers was not a simple job as it involved several rounds of persuasive mails and text messages before these were finally consolidated. I thank them all for their scholarly inputs. I also thank all my colleagues at the Department of Sociology for their support and encouragement, especially Dr Janardhan, whose profound theoretical insights have helped me comprehend some of the complexities of the neoliberal economic order. Some of my ideas were refined during the discussions with my students in the class. I thank them for their insightful questions. This process received momentum when Abhijit Baroi from SAGE Publications gave me the necessary impetus. But if it was not for his constant encouragement, I am sure this project may not have fructified. I am grateful to him, later Rajesh Dey, and his team for the timely and enthusiastic support for this volume. My family members support always remains a great energizing factor. To simply say thank you obviously seems far less than adequate.